Tuesday, 10 March 2009

First house raffle to actually give away a house

I have posted many times about the hopelessness of house raffles, but here is a report of one that has actually been won (allegedly!).

I am a cynic at the best of times and whilst I am suspicious about the actual story behind this 'winner' the more important point is that the developer who organised this raffle let this one go 'at a loss'.

The price quoted for the property is widely criticised as way over the top, which means that if the realistic price is 50% of the inflated figure (as suggested by others) and the charity has actually received £40,000 then they are not selling at a loss, but more likely giving it away. In the circumstances, they would have to sell over 10,000 tickets to just break even on the second property they intend to raffle. History shows that there will not be demand for 10,000 tickets let alone enough for all 10 properties they intend to raffle, especially given there are only 4225 registered ticket sales so far.

I do however think this is great marketing and they should generate some more ticket sales on the back of it so good luck to them. Have a go if you feel lucky.